Strymon ships Compadre compressor and boost pedal after Covid delay

September 26, 2022 · 4 sources

Strymon announced the Compadre, a dual voice compressor and boost pedal, in a statement the company sent to press. Strymon said it had been ready to start shipping the pedal in early March but chose to hold off because of Covid-19¹. Guitar World reported the pedal available for $299 on April 29, 2020².

The Compadre combines an analog compressor and an analog boost in one box, each on its own footswitch¹. The compressor has knobs for compression and level plus a dry knob for blending un-effected signal back in, parallel-compression style¹³. Attack, decay, threshold and makeup gain are preset, and Strymon says auto makeup gain and auto threshold mean the Compression knob alone sets the amount¹³. Two modes are selectable: Studio, described as smooth and transparent, and Squeeze, described as heavy compression with maximum sustain¹. A Comp LED changes color from green to red to amber with the mode selected³.

The boost side has a single gain knob and a three-way EQ switch for Flat, Mid or Treble¹³. A back-panel switch selects a clean boost or a dirty boost that introduces soft clipping¹³. Pedal of the Day put the boost at about +14dB and the level control at -6dB to +6dB, unity at noon⁴. The back panel also carries a TRS volume pedal input and a FAV/MIDI jack for a Strymon Favorite switch or a MIDI controller, which Guitar Player says recalls up to 300 presets³. Bypass is selectable between true, buffered and auto³. Guitar Player lists the size as 4 by 4.5 by 1.75 inches and says it is assembled in the USA³.

Guitar World reported the Compadre does not use the optical design of the discontinued OB.1, which it calls the pedal's predecessor, and attributed the OB.1's discontinuation to a shortage of optical elements². Guitar Player also calls the Compadre a replacement of sorts for the OB.1³.

Guitar Player's review awarded the pedal an Editors' Pick Award, calling it "deceptively versatile" and its compression "high-quality and low-noise," while noting some users might want built-in access to multiple presets³.